This invention relates generally to systems and methods of retrieving information in a network environment, and specifically to systems and methods by which information can be efficiently retrieved while operating in a Customer Information Control System environment.
In conventional computer network systems, a user at a workstation is coupled to a mainframe computer through an emulator session. The mainframe computer has several layers of user environments which control the operation of the mainframe. One typical user environment is Customer Interface Communications System ("CICS"), developed by Internal Business Machines corporation ("IBM"). CICS is an operating system that interacts with the mainframe and allows a user to perform operations on the mainframe. A second user environment is the Multi-Variable Storage ("MVS") operating system, also developed by IBM, which is the user environment that directly controls the mainframe. Thus, the CICS user environment must interact with the MVS user environment in order to perform mainframe operations.
The user is typically connected to the CICS region through an emulator session. An emulator session is a logical connection between the mainframe and the workstation. The connection is logical because although the user is coupled to a "screen" that represents the mainframe, there is no physical terminal on the mainframe side. Communication between the emulator session and the workstation is regulated by a conventional High Level Language Application Program Interface ("HLLAPI"). HLLAPI specifies that the user interaction with the mainframe is limited to screen commands, despite the fact that there is no physical terminal present on the mainframe side. That is, the user interacts with the emulator by issuing commands that manipulate the emulator "screen." Keystrokes typed by the user at the workstation are actually transmitted to the mainframe and executed as screen commands. For example, in a typical CICS environment, in order for data to be transferred, a screen command to transfer the data present on an emulator screen must be sent. To send the next screen of data, a second screen command must be sent. Thus, due to the screen command limitation, the data is literally scraped off the screen one screen at a time. This process is conventionally labeled "screen scraping," and is an extremely slow method of retrieving data, as the data transfer rate is limited by the size of the user's emulator screen.
One solution to speed up the transfer of data between the user and the mainframe in a computer system operating in an OS/2 environment would be to use structured fields. Structured fields allow the user to download up to 3 kilobytes of data at a time through the communication subsystem of the emulator, therefore bypassing the screen and the restrictions of the screen size. However, this maximum rate is still very slow. Additionally, a popular operating system, Windows, does not support write structured fields at all. A Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connection directly to the mainframe would provide a dramatically faster transfer rate, but conventional CICS environments do not support TCP/IP. CICS 3.3 and higher do support a TCP/IP connection, but it is a cost add on. CICS 3.2 and lower do not support it at all.
Therefore, it would be advantageous if an improved information retrieval system and process could provide efficient information retrieval for users working within the CICS region.
No known solution adequately addresses these needs in a simple, flexible, robust, and inexpensive manner.